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[auntiemeesh]

My brain seems to have recovered most of its functionality today.

I took part in a discussion about this article, Why Chinese Mothers are Superior. We have these 'coffee hour' discussions once a month or so, at work. This one was a follow up to a Cultural Sensitivity workshop we had during our in-service day last month. Our director led this discussion, and while everything we did was interesting and thought-provoking, I felt like the main point she was trying to make was very peripheral to the ideas in the article.

The article itself really struck a nerve with me, though, and has given me a lot to think about. It really points out how much culture determines what is acceptable and expected behavior. Things that we might consider terribly inappropriate if not downright emotionally abusive in our culture are considered the proper way to motivate one's children in another. For me, it was a little difficult, at first, to set aside my own biases and read the article without making judgments, but after letting it percolate a day or so, I can see a lot of places where there is a good middle ground to be found between the two extremes of western and eastern child-rearing as they are presented.

Comments

[wbkbb.livejournal.com]

I'm glad your brain is functioning again. Maybe someday soon I'll be able to say the same thing :)

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I hope so!

[eve11]

I recall reading quite a few rebuttals to this "Tiger Mother" article a few months back, some by people who had been raised (and emotionally scarred) by that method, and some others refuting the claim that this is the standard practice in eastern culture. They were on CNN.com; if you google "Tiger Mother" you'll find some links.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard of her before this article, mainly because I live with my head in the sand. What you say echoes my gut reaction to her, however, which is that she presents an extreme example of the Chinese mother and then compares it to an extreme example of lax western parenting, both of which she paints as the norm.

I'm curious now to read some reactions to her, so I think I'll be off to do some googling.

[eve11]

I only heard of it by clicking a random link on CNN.com so my head was in the sand too. ;)

[antbee362.livejournal.com]

I was going to ask if this discussion was a reaction to the Tiger Mom business. I think that she actually wrote a book. I heard or read somewhere after a week or two of the brouhaha over it that she admits that as her children got older she relaxed her behavior a bit.
Glad you are feeling better. :~)

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

The article we read was an excerpt from that book. And I think you're right in that she has admitted regret over some of her earlier behaviors. And she also seems to have exaggerated some of the scenarios. All the same, I'm still pretty unimpressed with her parenting style.